Skhab beads

Scented paste jewellery of North Africa

Updated November 25, 2024

Beads made of scented paste—known in the Maghreb as skhab—are among the most evocative items of personal adornment in North Africa. In this blog post I explore scented‑paste jewellery from Tunisia and Algeria, examining how fragrance, craft and cultural meaning come together in these unique beads. Rather than a simple inventory of pieces, we’ll look at their making, their wearing, and their place in Maghrebi social life.

Wearing scent: origins and cultural context in the Maghreb

Why wear scented jewellery in the first place? For this, we need to look at the role fragrance plays culturally. Fragrance in North Africa is much more than just spritzing on a perfume.

In informal religion, scent was considered powerful as an amulet. Incense in general was believed to keep malevolent spirits at a distance. [1] And because agreeable scents were seen as a manifestation of benign beings, wearing fragrance was a powerful way of keeping evil away.

The use of scent and personal grooming falls in the category of ‘recommended’ behaviour for Muslims, although its application varies per branch of Islam. Several hadīth underline the beneficial effects of perfume, relating how the Prophet also scented his clothing by fumigation and never refused perfumes. [2]

On important religious occasions, personal cleanliness was mandatory. This extended not only to the body, but also to clothing worn: an example from early 20^th century Morocco observes that clothing was perfumed with rosewater and orange blossom water or fumigated with incense. [3]

Scented paste in the Maghreb: beads

In Tunisia and Algeria, and to a lesser extent in Morocco and Libya as well, scent was added to jewellery in a beautiful way. [4] Here, a scented paste is worked into beads, generally called skhab. [5]

The beads were produced at home, but you could also buy them in specialized ateliers in the sūqs. In home production, recipes were handed down from mother to daughter and adapted to personal tastes. [6] As a result, the fragrance of these beads would be the signature scent of the wearer and her family.

The craft of skhab: ingredients

What did these beads smell like…? The bouquet itself was created by carefully selecting and combining aromatic ingredients. Cedarwood, sandalwood and ‘ūd created warm woody undertones. Cloves, saffron, rosemary and thyme were among the herbs used to add a spicy layer, while roses, preferably the strong scenting Rosa damascena, jasmine, lavender and patchouli added floral notes.

All of these were dried and pulverized. Pulverizing itself would take up a significant amount of time, as the powder had to be as finely ground as possible.

This was before the blender existed: everything had to be ground by hand! You’d want the fragrant powder to be as fine as possible: any larger lumps would present a problem in the polishing of the beads, later in the process.

So, after much grinding and regrinding, the fragrant powder was then slowly mixed with rosewater or orange blossom water.

When all of the water was absorbed, and this could take up to a week (!) it would be ground again. That procedure was repeated until a paste was created. [7]

Finally, a binding agent such as odoriferous resin, date paste or Arabic gum was added. You would boil the mixture slowly on a low fire, until it turned into a smooth paste.

Scented paste of North Africa: bead-making

While the paste was still warm, and gave off its sumptuous scent, women would start shaping the beads. The simplest beads were spherical, but experienced hands created a variety of shapes like hearts, fish, stars, crescents and flowers. Their size varied from tiny beads to quite sizable examples.

All these beads would be spread out on a tray and put somewhere to rest and dry, like in the window sill or on a table. Never in direct sunlight though: that would cause them to dry too fast and they would break.

When the beads had dried for a few days, they were still soft enough to be perforated, yet solid enough to keep their shape and not fall apart during the process.

After a month, the beads would be polished smooth and strung with a variety of other beads such as glass, coral, amber and silver into necklaces, or worn as earrings, hair ornaments and brooches. [8]

Creating these beads was an entirely female affair. It also served as introduction into a woman’s world for the daughters of the family: while wearing these beads was considered inappropriate for girls, the long days spent creating them was a time for chatting, gossiping and learning about the intimacies of married life.

Scented paste in adornment: hairstyles and bracelet lining

Scented paste was not only used for beads! Another practical way of applying it is on the inside of bracelets. The movements of the bracelet over the warm skin in would release the fragrance.

An additional benefit was that the thick layer of paste smoothed out any rough edges and prevented the skin from getting pinched between several heavy bracelets.

Remnants of this paste may sometimes still be visible on the inside of a bracelet: as this is not dirt, but an essential part of its life, I recommend checking for it before you start cleaning jewellery: see more about that here.

Scented paste was also worked into hairstyles, notably in Morocco: here, too, remnants of scented paste can still be found on ornaments worn in the hair. The gallery above shows such an example: click to enlarge the image, and see how the patches of ‘dirt’ may actually be leftovers from something that once smelled divine!

Social and ritual significance of scented paste beads: weddings and women

In Tunisia and Algeria, the scented beads were worn by a bride for the first time: their use is specifically for married women. They reflect the intimacy of married life and carry a strong connotation of sensuality.

The importance of these is well explained by an Algerian woman: ‘A woman that does not possess a necklace of scented beads, is not a woman’ – unmarried girls did not wear fragrant beads, as their sensual capacities were inappropriate for their social position. [9]

That these necklaces were more than just ornaments, is illustrated by the cultural restrictions surrounding their use. Algerian women did not wear their scented bead necklaces when their husband was away; when he was absent for a longer period of time, the necklaces were stored in a box.[10]

Even just showing them to female friends was done very privately: you would not want another man accidentally to catch a whiff of their scent. [11]

Scented paste beads today: tradition, production and trade

Today, the large necklaces with scented paste are still a very important part of weddings in the Maghreb. Scented beads are now mainly produced by specialized ateliers in the sūqs.[12] These ateliers run a good business, as procuring these beads is a necessity for engagement and wedding festivities. You’ll find them strung with lavish perfume containers known as meskia: see more about these delicious jewels here.

Wearing scented beads is an old tradition that is still in use, and that is much more than just aesthetics: perfume jewellery is a profound cultural expression.

More about the many uses of scent, wearing fragrant jewels and the art of incense fumigation is in the e-course Scents of the Middle East: a full exploration of the invisible side of adornment!

—

Want to learn how fragrance plays a role in jewellery and adornment? My book Silver & Frankincense explores this in depth!

More posts on jewellery and amulets? Browse them all here!

Join the Jewellery List and receive new articles, jewellery news and more in your inbox!

—

References

[1] Interestingly, in early Christianity the opposite was the case: incense was believed to attract demons. This stance towards incense was related to the Roman practice of burning incense to honour the gods and the emperor, and only changed centuries later in Late Antiquity. See Lallemand 2008.

[2] Kanafani 1983, pp. 293-294.

[3] Westermarck 1911, p. 131.

[4] Mershen 2009, p. 59; Zimmerle 2014, pp. 416-417; Becker 2000, p. 182.

[5] According to Eudel’s Dictionnaire des Bijoux, the name is particularly used in Algeria and Tunisia for scented beads; in other regions it generally indicates a necklace.

[6] Filali 2001; Benfoughal 1997, p. 91-92.

[7] Opper 2015, p. 22. The process could take up to 40 days. See these videos by Charlotte Dakin-Norris to make your own!

[8] Opper 2015, p. 22.

[9] Tamzali 1984, p. 41; Benfoughal 1997, p. 139. In Algeria’s Kabylia, however, girls would wear a necklace made of amber called lūban or ‘incense’. Although the necklace itself did not carry scent, the name hints at the stage in life preceding the one in which she soon would wear real scented jewellery. Eudel 1906 Dictionnaire des Bijoux, p. 121.

[10] Benfoughal 1997, p. 139.

[11] Benfoughal 1997, p. 142.

[12] Gargouri-Sethom & Perez 2005, p. 123-125.

The Bedouin Silver blog gives credit where credit is due! Transparent referencing and citing sources helps us all grow. Would you like to do the same and quote this article? Here’s how:

S. van Roode, [write the title as you see it above this post], published on the Bedouin Silver website [paste the exact link to this article], accessed on [the date you are reading this article and decided it was useful for you].